More Children Are Dying

Laramie, Wy – A national report on child well-beingshows a significant increase in the number of child deaths inWyoming. The annual Kids Count report release this morning (Tuesday)shows Wyoming with 37 deaths for every 100,000 children between theages of one and 14 years. Those numbers rely on 2003 data, andthat's a big increase from 27 deaths just three years earlier. On that measure, ranks 49th out of 50 states. Marilyn Patton of the Wyoming Department of Family Services saysthe state's growing methamphetamine problem may be contributing tothe child death rate. She says more than half of abuse deaths inrecent years have been meth related. The Kids Count report wasn't entirely bad news. Wyoming showedimprovements in infant mortality, teen births, child poverty andhigh school dropouts. Overall, Wyoming ranked 28th out of the 50 states.